|
In my Brown Bear suit I walk on the street towards the gallery. The streetlights
feel bright. I, the Brown Bear, walk slowly, awkwardly. It is a mournful
walk of being not one thing or another. In the gallery someone shouts,
“The white bear is downstairs.” He has taken on the story.
He assumes the brown bear is looking for something. Why does he send it
to the empty skin rather than full-bodied image of the video installation?
The brown bear makes its way through the people in the gallery. Is the
brown bear one of the art objects? People follow the brown bear in to
the room where the white bearskin lies. They keep a distance, staying
at the doorway, creating a stage. The brown bear feels the flatness of
the white bear. Its empty suit speaks of an unfulfilled presence. The
brown bear knows what action to take. The brown bear walks to the pile
of filler and begins to stuff the white bear, to give it shape again.
This repetitive action is not acting but rather a task. The brown bear
knows what to do. I, the brown bear, find it strange to be watched. I
notice a sensation of empathy, as if it is a funeral rite. My paws are
too large and undexterous to finish the task. I look to the people watching
me. A person in a brown bear suit does not speak. A brown bear communicates
with its eyes. Two people begin to help me finish the stuffing. It is
a moment of communion. The white bear is full. The white bear is dead.
The brown bear mimics the white bears position and lies down on the ground,
feet against the white bear. Two stuffed bears, one with real eyes that
looks back. A man walks by looking down at the white bear then at the
brown bear. He jumps with fright when the brown bear looks back.
other
Bear Projects
|
